New Jersey must give poor schools $500 million: Supreme Court

By staff and wire services reports

May 25th, 2011

New Jersey must provide about $500 million for its poorer school districts next year, the state Supreme Court said on Tuesday, complicating the state’s ongoing budget negotiations, Reuters reports. The 3-2 court ruling, concerning what are known as the Abbott districts, is the latest development in a decades-long battle over state education funding for poor and other disadvantaged students. Governor Chris Christie criticized the ruling, saying it was not the court’s place to dictate “how taxpayer dollars are spent,” but said the state would obey it…